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Sri Lanka slumped to 196 all out on day two to concede a huge lead in the second Test at Lord's on Friday after Gus Atkinson's superb maiden century put England in control of the match.
Kamindu Mendis (74) provided the only real resistance and was the last man out when he tried to slog Atkinson but could only spoon a simple catch to Chris Woakes.
England elected not to enforce the follow-on and finished on 25-1 – a lead of 256 – with Dan Lawrence (7) the only wicket to fall, caught behind by keeper Nishan Madushka off Lahiru Kumara.
"We're well ahead of the game after day two with loads of time left," Atkinson told the BBC. "Hopefully we can push on to a big lead tomorrow and then bowl them out again."
Sri Lanka lost their last three wickets after tea with Prabath Jayasuriya (8) charging past a ball from Shoaib Bashir that turned sharply to hit leg stump.
Kumara (0) was then run out by Ollie Pope's direct hit trying to run a single from the non-striker's end to give the strike to Mendis, who could not add to his total.
The damage was done in the afternoon session when Sri Lanka lost five wickets, including the veteran pair of Angelo Mathews and Dinesh Chandimal in quick succession.
Olly Stone, in his first test since 2021, picked up his second wicket completing an over he started before lunch, when Pathum Nissanka (12) glanced one to Matthew Potts at leg slip.
Mathews and Chandimal tried to rebuild with a partnership of 48 but a double-wicket maiden from Potts put England on top.
Mathews (22) played around a straight one and captain Dhananjaya de Silva was caught by Harry Brook at second slip for a three-ball duck as Sri Lanka fell to 83-5.
Chandimal (23) then clipped one from Atkinson to Dan Lawrence at leg slip as Sri Lanka slipped further into the mire at 87-6.
Milan Rathnayake (19) briefly counter-attacked until he nicked Woakes to keeper Jamie Smith, leaving Mendis to bat with the tail.
Sri Lanka had lost both openers before lunch, Madushka (7) chopping a wide delivery from Woakes on to his stumps before Stone removed Dimuth Karunaratne (7) in identical fashion.
England earlier resumed on 358-7 and Atkinson began the day with back-to-back boundaries, clipping Kumara's first delivery to fine leg then driving the next through cover.
The 26-year-old was given out lbw from the third ball of an eventful opening over, but was reprieved on review as the ball was travelling down the leg side.
Atkinson moved to 99 with another classy cover drive for four and, unlike Joe Root on day one, needed just three balls to reach three figures with a straight drive to the fence.
Sri Lanka leaked 35 runs off the first five overs before the introduction of Asitha Fernando, who had Potts (21) caught behind by keeper Madushka.
Atkinson fell trying to hit Fernando into the stands, brilliantly caught by Rathnayake on the midwicket boundary for 118 off 115 balls.
Stone (15) was the last man out off Fernando (5-102) as England added 69 to their overnight total to finish on 427.
England won the first test at Old Trafford last week by five wickets. Sri Lanka must win at Lord's to have a chance of winning the three-match series.
Though their chances look slim, Mendis said he thought Sri Lanka could mount an unlikely comeback.
"I think if we can keep them under 150, 175 (we have) a chance to win the game," he told reporters.
